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-- THE ARCHIVE --

SAUDI ARABIA

Arab News, Jeddah/Riyadh/Dhahran, 28 December 2006

Crime and Punishment: Who Deserves What and Where?

By Abeer Mishkhas

Officials at the Ministry of Justice are discussing the
possibility of replacing prison sentences with other types of
punishments such as community service or disciplinary courses.

According to the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the studies
coincide with two rulings in Al Moueih where two teenagers were
sentenced to community service for violating the law, one for
stealing and the other one for drinking alcohol. The paper added
that the original sentence in those two cases was 8 months
imprisonment and 100 lashes, which was replaced by community
service. The two offenders will now have to clean 26 mosques in
the region and work as volunteers for charities.

That ruling strikes one as innovative and logical and it
actually makes more sense than the regular punishment, especially
in the case of teenagers, who need more discipline and to be more
committed to their communities. The mere idea that the Ministry
of Justice is studying alternative punishments is a clear
indicator that we do need to change the way we look at crimes and
social offenses. And it opens a door to thinking more deeply
about sentences and whether they actually serve their purpose and
serve society as well, or if they only depend on one point of
view and one narrow interpretation of the law.

However, before we get carried away by one positive piece of
news, another news item in Al-Watan newspaper slaps us back to
reality.

I will write exactly what came in the news item: "The
authorities in Taif carried out a lashing sentence yesterday
against a pediatrician who works in King Abdul Aziz Specialist
Hospital in front of a crowd of doctors and hospital workers. The
doctor, a non-Saudi, was found guilty of harassing a female
doctor and of harming her reputation. Sources told Al-Watan that
the doctor reported her colleague to the authorities and that a
sentence was issued stating that he would be punished in public
in front of his colleagues and deported after that. The
hospital's administration invited all workers to witness the
punishment, which was to take place for the first time in a
government building."

Thus ended the news item and with this we start wondering,
hopefully not in vain, about the circumstances of this incident.

But to take it one-step at a time, if the doctor was found
guilty, the usual punishment is to terminate his contract, and
secondly, does "harming the reputation" require such
severe punishment? And furthermore, if the sentence is just, why
did it have to take place in a hospital in front of medical
staff? Is it not humiliating enough for the doctor to be
sentenced in the first place? Do we have to take it that level?

The charges seem quite vague, what did the offender exactly do
to his colleague to merit the punishment? And I have to wonder
about the hospital's administration that invited the workers
to see the humiliation of a staff member.

How is that compatible with the medical profession? Where is
their solidarity and compassion? Well, obviously, we will be
asking these questions forever.

And my final question, that I confess is more than scary, is
how have government buildings and workplaces suddenly become
courts and maybe will be turned into detention centers and
prisons in the future? Are we going to live to see the day when a
trip to the office also means visiting prisoners and checking out
offending colleagues?